01.20.14

“Peter Gammons actually has an impressive resume,” says The Canadian Press’ John Chidley-Hill, reminding his readers the former Boston Globe/ESPN baseball analyst is, y’know, a Hall Of Famer and then some. For those primarily concerned with hockey, however, Gammons (above, middle) is presently best known as the elderly gent who in the wake of Saturday’s Canucks/Flames megabrawl, tweeted ”Calgary and Vancouver reiterated why the NHL is a minor sport.” Participants and those who cover said minor sport didn’t take kindly to views of the continent’s last remaining Letters To Cleo fan, as Chidley-Hill details :

“(at)pgammo says the guy who makes his living off the dirtiest sport in the world other then maybe cycling,” said professional hockey player Mike Commodore, a native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., who currently plays in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. The 11-year veteran of the NHL added the hashtag .beatitpeter to his tweet.

Less than 30 minutes later, Commodore tweeted at Gammons a second time, again referring to MLB’s struggles to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs: “(at)pgammo , help us out with your infinite wisdom scoops, would a good solid 25 year HGH/doping era turn hockey into a “major” sport?”

Erik Johnson, a defenceman for the Colorado Avalanche, replied to Gammons with a picture of the sold-out Michigan Stadium, filled with over 100,000 fans to watch the Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on Jan. 1.

The caption “No one cares about hockey” was superimposed over the image.

Larry Brooks, a New York Post sportswriter renowned for his arguments with Tortorella when the coach was with the Rangers, also criticized Gammons.

“Dont know about that. No one called baseball a minor sport when Carlos Quentin charged mound and broke Zach Greinke’s collarbone,” said Brooks.